Dear Readers,
My name is Brendan Burke. I am Coating Systems Manager at OEC Graphics-Chicago in Willowbrook, IL, the home of CADCOAT. This is my first foray into the world of blogging. My intent is to provide users (and prospective users) of CADCOAT and related products with an on-line, frequently updated source for information that is vital, helpful, or informative in using our products.
In this introductory blog, I will answer the question, "What is CADCOAT?". In future additions, I will post information on new products and accessories that will allow CADCOAT users to get the most out of their investment.
What is CADCOAT?
The answer to this question starts with a trip back in time. In 1996, a small company called CADCOAT, LLC was founded with the mission to provide high-quality coating plates (often referred to as blankets or coating blankets) to the folding carton printing industry. As many offset printers are aware (especially folding carton printers), inks are often slow to dry and often dry with a dull appearance. In order to seal the ink on the substrate and to enhance the appearance of the printed work, the printers use a method called "coating". That is to say, that the last unit of the printing press is used to lay down a protective (often glossy) surface over the printed work. The trouble with this is that the glue that is used to assemble the cartons does not readily adhere to the coating.
In order to allow the glue to stick, it was necessary to create voids in the areas that were to be glued. The most widely used method for this at the time was to cut the voids by hand into a strippable rubber "coating blanket". While this was effective, it meant "down time" on the press while the blanket was being cut. Anyone who works in the printing industry will tell you that press down time is one of the most costly waste factors in any printing operation, with press time being built at $500/hour or more. Additionally, cutting the blankets by hand was a delicate operation, as cutting too deep meant that in most cases the blanket was unusable.
CADCOAT, LLC had the answer. What if instead of hand-cutting rubber blankets, the folding carton companies had a source where they could order photopolymer plates with the voids and coating areas already defined? The technology and techniques were already being used by flexographic plate manufacturers, but CADCOAT, LLC became the first to specialize in coating plates almost exclusively. Within a couple of years, CADCOAT, LLC became the industry leader in the use of photopolymer plates to create coating plates, expanding from the folding carton industry to the commercial printing, publication printing, and direct-mail fields, among others.
Recognizing this, OEC Graphics of Oshkosh, WI (already an established leader in flexographic plate making) purchased CADCOAT, LLC from the founder and introduced CADCOAT as the brand name for it's line of specialty coating plates. This brings us to the present day, in which OEC Graphics continues to lead the industry in the manufacture of coating plates from it's Willowbrook, IL facility.
Information about CADCOAT brand coating plates, along with all of OEC Graphics, Inc.'s products can be found on the web at www.oecgraphics.com. If you have any specific questions for which the answers are not on the web site, please feel to post them to this blog as a comment.
Until next time,
Brendan J. Burke
Coating Systems Manager
OEC Graphics-Chicago
